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The latest entry in the Star Wars franchise, The Last Jedi has proven incredibly divisive since its release last week, with some holding it up as the best the franchise has had to offer since The Empire Strikes Back, and others describing it as an abomination.

The latter has been the most vocal of late, with a petition to have the film scrubbed from existence garnering over 30,000 signatures.

But American Star Wars fan Henry Walsh, who launched the Change.org petition earlier this week, has now stepped away from the petition following death threats, and suggested the thousands of signees should do something slightly better with their time.

Walsh had initially called on Disney to remove The Last Jedi from the Star Wars canon, remake the film entirely and delay the release of the forthcoming Star Wars Episode IX, claiming that The Last Jedi's treatment of Luke Skywalker and his Jedi powers contributed to the film being a "travesty" that "completely destroyed the [franchise] legacy".

But as his petition picked up steam online, he added an update that described the thought process behind it, writing that he was "frustrated and medicated" when he decided to launch the petition, and suggested that he is aware the petition is vaguely pointless.

Walsh's petition, which has received over 30,000 signatures so far

"I love all of the support, but we also know that Disney isn't going to do anything, and with so many people, who have much better causes, struggling to gain attention it is a shame that this is getting this level of media attention."

He then added a second update earlier this morning after being inundated with death threats and accusations that he had been paid off by Disney to back down from the petition.

"I have not been, as some people accused, bought off by Disney," he declared. "I wish I was bought off by Disney, I could use the money, but no I didn't change my tune on the liking of this film. If you can please stop sending me threats I would greatly appreciate it."

The Last Jedi's treatment of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) has been a particular bone of contention for Star Wars fansCredit:
John Wilson/Lucasfilm

He added: "No I don't like The Last Jedi. I would actually love Disney to strip it from canon, I just know such a thing isn't (and never was) a realistic goal.

"You should all help people, as we always should help people, because that is just a decent thing to do. My concern is that the popularity of this petition could pull the focus off of things that might be more important."

The Last Jedi's director Rian Johnson has spoken about the backlash to his film, arguing that it doesn't bother him as he understands where it stems from.

"It's because [the fans] care about these things, and it hurts when you're expecting something specific and you don't get it from something that you love," he told Business Insider. "It always hurts, so I don't take it personally if a fan reacts negatively and lashes out on me on Twitter. That's fine. It's my job to be there for that."